Goodbye Malaysia...
Hello again
When I last emailed, I had just arrived in Georgetown, on the Malaysian island of Penang. My journey into town from the airport was in some style, as the taxi wasn't the usual Proton Saga (frowsy 80s box on wheels) but a stretched lwb version - visualise a lwb Austin Maestro or Ford Orion and you get the picture!
Georgetown has a lot of colonial history, and it also has many well preserved Chinese shophouses, with their covered 6 foot walkways. It's not an easy place to walk around though, as these walkways are usually blocked by parked motor bikes and cars, cafe tables and shop goods, so you end up in the road dodging manic motor bikes and trying not to fall in the open drains, which smell pretty grim and have several rats in them...
On a happier note, there is much to see as well. One highlight is the Kek Lok Si temple, a massive Buddhist complex with it's famous pagoda of 10000 buddhas and the new 30m statue of the Avalokitesvara (Goddess of Mercy) made by a Chinese aerospace firm, perhaps it flies as well! A bit commercialised (so many hawker stalls on the route to the entrance, and various stalls selling tat inside, but impressive nethertheless.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=beadscd&.dnm=aa91scd.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=beadscd&.dnm=afbbscd.jpg&.src=ph
Other highlights include the stunning Cheong Fatt Tze mansion, created by it's owner, the so called "Rockefeller of the East", known as the last Mandarin and the first Chinese tycoon, a fine Burmese Buddist temple and a giant reclining Buddha (there's a certain amount of competition to have the largest standing, reclining etc Buddha, I guess churches compete on their overall size and height of nave, while mosques compete on their size and number/height of minarets?)
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=beadscd&.dnm=a8d3scd.jpg&.src=ph
I also took a 30 minute funicular railway ride up to the top of Penang Hill, but it was misty so I couldn't see anything!
It is always nice to eat with the locals, away from the tourists, and on my last night I indeed managed to go this. The restaurant was a western one, full of locals (Chinese and Indians) but the steak was nice (from NZ, I personally inspected most of their cows when I was there, and not one suspicious moo hinting at mad cow disease) and the red wine made a nice change!
I had intended to travel across to the east coast of mainland Malaysia, which is the most Malay (and devout) part of the country, then cross the land border into south east Thailand, but had been concerned about security issues in this area - this part of Thailand is majority Muslim and there are terrorists wanting to split apart from Thailand and join Malaysia. My mind was made up, when in the week I was in the area, 2 border policemen were shot, and several bystanders injured in a by no means isolated incident. As I had on a previous trip travelled on the west coast train to Bangkok, I bought a cheap flight and flew instead...
An interesting country Malaysia, with it's ethnic mix and colonial background. And despite previous tensions between the Malays (who have the political jobs) and the Chinese (who have the economic power and wealth) the country holds together pretty well, and is to be congratulated for it's religious freedom. The country went through a period a few years ago when the English language was sidelined, but this was reversed as it meant the country losing a key advantage over it's SE Asian rivals. You see adverts everywhere for University courses including study in the UK, and you see English football everywhere - seeing local people in England shirts is very odd! Indeed I'm sure the previous anti English posture was reversed when the UK government promised the Malaysian prime minister a signed David Beckham shirt
Mike
When I last emailed, I had just arrived in Georgetown, on the Malaysian island of Penang. My journey into town from the airport was in some style, as the taxi wasn't the usual Proton Saga (frowsy 80s box on wheels) but a stretched lwb version - visualise a lwb Austin Maestro or Ford Orion and you get the picture!
Georgetown has a lot of colonial history, and it also has many well preserved Chinese shophouses, with their covered 6 foot walkways. It's not an easy place to walk around though, as these walkways are usually blocked by parked motor bikes and cars, cafe tables and shop goods, so you end up in the road dodging manic motor bikes and trying not to fall in the open drains, which smell pretty grim and have several rats in them...
On a happier note, there is much to see as well. One highlight is the Kek Lok Si temple, a massive Buddhist complex with it's famous pagoda of 10000 buddhas and the new 30m statue of the Avalokitesvara (Goddess of Mercy) made by a Chinese aerospace firm, perhaps it flies as well! A bit commercialised (so many hawker stalls on the route to the entrance, and various stalls selling tat inside, but impressive nethertheless.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=beadscd&.dnm=aa91scd.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=beadscd&.dnm=afbbscd.jpg&.src=ph
Other highlights include the stunning Cheong Fatt Tze mansion, created by it's owner, the so called "Rockefeller of the East", known as the last Mandarin and the first Chinese tycoon, a fine Burmese Buddist temple and a giant reclining Buddha (there's a certain amount of competition to have the largest standing, reclining etc Buddha, I guess churches compete on their overall size and height of nave, while mosques compete on their size and number/height of minarets?)
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=beadscd&.dnm=a8d3scd.jpg&.src=ph
I also took a 30 minute funicular railway ride up to the top of Penang Hill, but it was misty so I couldn't see anything!
It is always nice to eat with the locals, away from the tourists, and on my last night I indeed managed to go this. The restaurant was a western one, full of locals (Chinese and Indians) but the steak was nice (from NZ, I personally inspected most of their cows when I was there, and not one suspicious moo hinting at mad cow disease) and the red wine made a nice change!
I had intended to travel across to the east coast of mainland Malaysia, which is the most Malay (and devout) part of the country, then cross the land border into south east Thailand, but had been concerned about security issues in this area - this part of Thailand is majority Muslim and there are terrorists wanting to split apart from Thailand and join Malaysia. My mind was made up, when in the week I was in the area, 2 border policemen were shot, and several bystanders injured in a by no means isolated incident. As I had on a previous trip travelled on the west coast train to Bangkok, I bought a cheap flight and flew instead...
An interesting country Malaysia, with it's ethnic mix and colonial background. And despite previous tensions between the Malays (who have the political jobs) and the Chinese (who have the economic power and wealth) the country holds together pretty well, and is to be congratulated for it's religious freedom. The country went through a period a few years ago when the English language was sidelined, but this was reversed as it meant the country losing a key advantage over it's SE Asian rivals. You see adverts everywhere for University courses including study in the UK, and you see English football everywhere - seeing local people in England shirts is very odd! Indeed I'm sure the previous anti English posture was reversed when the UK government promised the Malaysian prime minister a signed David Beckham shirt
Mike
posted by Michael Conway at
7:38 am
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